


Candy Hearts

by BlackCatula



Category: Motorcity
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Fluff, One Shot, Questioning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 14:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6012175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackCatula/pseuds/BlackCatula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Claire's birthday! Julie found her the perfect present, and they've got just enough time to share it and enjoy each other's company.</p><p>Happy Valentine's Day!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Candy Hearts

"Happy birthday, Claire!"

"Happy birthday, me!" Claire cheered in response, adding a thrust and a high kick for good measure.

"Whoa, don't scuff the walls now," Julie said, reining her in. "I think the maintenance bots just repainted this room yesterday."

Claire tsked. "Jules, I will not have my party vibes dampened on this day. It's my party and I'll dance if I want to!"

"Okay, okay, volume down, dancing machine," Julie said, buttoning her friend's lips with a finger. "I'm not supposed to be here right now anyway, you know that."

Claire deflated and sighed. "I know...I'm just excited cause it's my special day! You can't blame me for that."

Julie shrugged, but had to agree. Of all the people in the entire KaneCo headquarters who deserved a special day, no one was more qualified to deserve it than the World's Greatest Secretary and best friend. And here, within the gleaming walls of this floating alabaster cube Claire called home, her best friend Julie stood ready to deliver.

And deliver was exactly what she intended to do.

"So Claire," she said, as nonchalantly as someone desperately struggling to hold back a secret can manage, "...I knew this day was coming up soon, and uh, while I was out...doing some stuff...I may have also been out searching for some birthday gifts…".

The light shining from Claire's eyes could have lit up the room if it wasn't already pristine white. "Gift? For MOI?! Julie!!!"

"I've been searching for...well, months, actually," Julie explained, pulling the box from behind her back and passing it to her. "It took me until just the other day to find a shop down in Motorcity that still sells these. It's become sort of a...lost art down there."

"Jules!" Claire had already wasted no time unwrapping the box, tossing the plain construction paper on the floor. "I'm so excited!! Oh my god, you put a box inside of another box...you're such a dork!"

"Heh, yeah…". She sent up a silent prayer to any gods upstairs that might still be listening for Claire to like this gift…

The response was a notable pause, followed by a very tender: "...Julie...oh my GOD, Julie!!"

Claire snapped her head up to look at her, mouth in a perfect O shape. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. She looked back down, then back up again. "...Julie!!!"

"I tried to tell 'em the heart-shaped box would be a dead giveaway, but they insisted it was tradition," Julie answered with a shrug and a smile.

"Do you have ANY IDEA how long it's been since I've had chocolates??" Claire continued, eyes still shimmering like stars as she ran her fingers over the fancy ribbon surrounding the heart box. "REAL chocolates, I mean?"

Julie nodded. "Like I said, they weren't easy to find. It took me months to track these down, and you would not BELIEVE how hard it is to keep candy a secret from Tex...but you know, I just...you're my best friend, and, well...you're worth it, Claire."

Yep, those were tears in her eyes. REAL tears. Claire tossed the box on her bed and threw herself full force at her best friend in the world, wrapping her arms as far around as they'd go, picking her up off the ground and just laughing, crying, laughing with joy. It had been full worth the hardship of acquiring them just for this single moment.

And when she finally put her back down on the ground to take a breath, the classy and clever quip Julie had prepared in her brain was suddenly cut short when Claire leaned in and gave her a kiss.

On the lips.

It was quick one, as quick as Claire was excited, and when it was over she casually skipped back over to the box on her bed, but lips had definitely touched lips, and Julie found herself frozen in time for a moment.

"You are literally the absolute BEST, Julie," Claire continued, pulling the off the ribbon. "You're the JULES in my crown, you're the...the...um…".

She trailed off as her eyes met Julie's again, quickly realizing why she'd gone silent. She felt her own heart box suddenly double its rhythm. "Uh...sorry, I was...uh, just got a little too excited there, didn't I? Heh...uh, you know me, I'm just, um...just…".

"...gay?"

Claire buttoned her lip, unable to hold back the oncoming rush of blood to her face. Her eyes darted to the door, but she knew that only worked in movies. She slowly exhaled, letting her head droop forward a bit, then nodded quietly.

"...heh, so Mike was right after all."

She looked up again to see Julie with her hands in her vest pockets, smiling sheepishly back at her. She swallowed, then smiled back.

"We were talking about Chuck the other day and I brought up his massive crush on you," Julie explained, looking out the window. "I always thought maybe it was because Chuck was trying too hard, but...I guess Mike's a little more perceptive than I am, heh. I can't believe I never thought of it that way."

Claire snorted, still hesitant, but glad the atmosphere hadn't gone sour. "I mean, I'm sure Chuck's a nice enough guy and all, I just...I don't see in him what he sees in me, y'know?"

Julie chuckled, then frowned. "...I really should've picked up on this a lot sooner, though. It should have been obvious after the way you were drooling all over Foxy that time we met the Amazons."

"Hey, can you blame me?" Claire crossed her arms and pouted. "Pretty girls are pretty, it's not a crime to look!"

"Heh, I won't blame you," she said, looking again at the floor. "I just wish I'd figured it out sooner."

Claire wondered if maybe she'd spoken too soon. The atmosphere DID seem to change. She felt her fingers curl up. "...you're...not gonna tell anyone, are you?"

"Huh? Oh...no. I mean...not unless you tell me it's okay first."

A sigh of relief. "...good. Thanks."

"Of course." Julie let the words hang awkwardly for a moment, then followed up with, "Alright alright, obligatory hug time, right?"

"...oh yeah, right!"

But as Claire made her way back over, Julie found her mind strangely aloof and disconnected. She saw out of the corner of her eye a bunch of memories flicker past, memories that all could have probably answered this a long time ago. Claire had always been sort of gay, hadn't she? For as long as Julie had known her. This shouldn't have felt like breaking news, but here it was, breaking right in front of her face.

She felt Claire embrace her. Her blood seemed to heat up inside her body as she hugged back.

...wait, am I hugging too tightly? What if that's sending some kind of signal? What if I've always been sending signals every time we hug? Oh geez...uh, where should I put my hands? Does it matter? How many times have I grabbed her butt during a hug over the years? Is that even, like...a sensual thing for her?

...oh god, our boobs are touching. But wait, that's...that's normal, right? I mean, not NORMAL normal, not like there's anything un-normal about being gay, but...like…?

...no, this is a normal hug. It has to be. Her hands are on my back and sides. This is the way it's always been, Julie, nothing has changed. Right?

I wonder if she smells my hair when we hug. Oh god, what if she does and I stink??

NO! Stop that! Stop worrying about all this and just hug your friend, Julie!

...but not too tightly. And maybe don't touch her butt. Or smell her hair. Or--

"...Julie?"

"W-what?"

Claire pulled away, hands on her shoulders, expression grave and serious. "Jules."

Julie's eyes darted away for a moment, even though she'd tried to stop them. The room seemed to have suddenly gotten so much smaller. "...yes?"

Deep breath. "...tell me this isn't gonna make things weird between us now."

Julie swallowed. "...w-weird how?"

"I can tell you got some mixed feelings in there," she said softly, bringing her hands down. "That hug was too weak to be a real-deal Julie hug. You're sure nothing's changed now that you...know?"

"...Claire…".

"You're not gonna treat me any differently than before, right?" she said, releasing Julie altogether. "We can still hug, right? We can still be comfortable with each other, like the best friends we've always been, can't we?"

"I--" Julie stuttered for a moment, still fumbling to process the words. "I-I mean, of course we can...I…".

"...maybe I shouldn't have said anything," Claire mumbled, turning away.

"No! Wait…". Julie took a moment to correct her thoughts, trying to put the words in the right order. "We're still gonna be friends, I promise! Best friends! I just...I guess I just don't wanna accidentally...er, send the wrong signals or anything...wow, hang on, that sounds really bad when I say it out loud…uh...what I meant was...y'know…".

"Julie." She held up a hand, cutting her off.

"...?"

Claire turned around, looking her squarely in the eye. "...do you know me at all?"

She blinked in response. "...yeah, I know you."

"Then you oughtta know," Claire continued, raising an eyebrow, confidence rising with each word, "...that I am the least subtle person in the entire world."

Another pause. "...okay? And?"

"Don't you think," she said, hands apart as she leaned in for emphasis, "...if you were ever 'sending me a signal', that I'd have picked up on it by now? Come on, girl! You said it yourself, you saw me drooling over Foxy, right? That's how obvious I'd be if I was picking up a 'signal' from you!"

"Oh…".

"Yeah."

Julie took a moment to file this information away, then nodded. "Okay. So...you uh, don't LIKE-me like-me, then?"

"Oh my god." Claire tossed her hands in the air.

"What??"

"Julie." She placed those hands back on her friend's shoulders. "JULES. You can't just put me on the spot like that!"

"Sorry!" Julie felt herself back up completely against the wall, hands up in surrender. "Sorry, you're right. You're right, I know. I'm sorry. I just...I've never been friends with a gay lady before, especially not BEST friends, I'm just--"

"Jules, just shut up." Claire shook her head and sighed. "I am the exact same person you've been friends with for how many years now? No seriously, how many years? I don't know, I lost count. We've been friends forever as far as I know. MY POINT IS...nothing has changed at all. Okay? You got that?"

Julie bit her lip and glanced at the floor for a moment, but ONLY for a moment, then nodded. "...okay."

"Nothing has changed," Claire repeated, eyes locked onto hers. "I'm still a receptionist. You're still my best and favorite friend. I still think what you do is way too dangerous. And I still don't like Chuck...not in THAT way, anyway."

"...but you might if he was a girl," Julie added, meekly.

"Right." She stopped. "Er...no, wait. Julie!"

"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it!" she giggled, letting herself slide the rest of the way down the wall. "I'm sorry, I'll stick to jokes about cars from now on, I promise…".

Claire frowned, but quickly devolved into laughter as well. It was good to have Julie back.

And Julie quickly realized it was good to BE back. Even if only for a few minutes, she'd missed being able to laugh so comfortably with her best friend. And that, she finally understood, was exactly how it should have been from the start. Claire was her best friend before she was anything else, and Julie had been so worried about her own feelings that she'd almost forgotten that Claire had feelings to account for as well.

The room no longer felt tiny and cramped. It was plainly more than big enough for the both of them.

"Alright then," Claire said, regaining her composure. "Now that we've gotten the elephant out of the room...I want you to give me a hug again. A REAL hug. Like you really mean it."

Julie nodded, climbing back to her feet. "It IS your birthday, after all."

"That's right!" She opened her arms wide.

And Julie followed suit.

And when their bodies came together, it no longer mattered where the hands went. It no longer mattered how close their faces were, or whether their breasts pushed against one another. What DID matter was that it was Claire's birthday, and Julie was her best friend. And that happiness, whether gay or not, was by far the best gift she could offer.

...well, the chocolates were pretty important too.

"Let's have one together!"

Claire plucked two chocolates from the heart box and handed one to Julie. She nodded, smiled, then held the candy up to Claire's mouth.

Her eyebrow raised slowly. "...one more thing, Julie."

"Yeah?"

Her eyes travelled down, then back up. "...let's just say, and I'm being totally hypothetical here, but...I COULD, potentially, LIKE-you like you...maybe. Maybe, if I knew you were interested too. But only if. And totally hypothetically!"

Julie paused, then cracked into a smile as she slowly pushed the chocolate between Claire's lips.

"...good to know."


End file.
